Finer Than Frog Hair
by Calico Yorki
Summary: A sort of retelling of My Hero Academia, told from the perspective of Tsuyu. Her backstory and home life haven't been revealed thus far, so I'll be taking just a few liberties. Editorial Note: Chapter 3 is up, and I apologize for the delay. PLUS ULTRA!
1. Little Frog in a Big Pond (First Part)

For some, to be or to not be a hero was decided from birth. Someone who could shoot lightning bolts or outrun the Shinkansen, they'd have no trouble. Quirks like those were in high demand, after all. Some people had to really figure out their quirks to be in with a shout of getting their hero license, though. Either they were impractical, or what uses they did have would only be useful in a fight if the person thought outside of the box. There were some people whose quirks seemed downright absurd or silly to contemplate, and who had to work hard just to be taken seriously, let alone have a chance at being a true blue hero.

That last one's pretty much the story of my life. Ever since I was a little girl, I desperately wanted to be a hero. Heroes like All Might looked so cool on TV, but it wasn't just that. It was being surrounded by love and adoration, it was making a difference and saving people, you know? I wanted to be able to help as many people as possible, and I never wanted to do that in a different way than to be a hero. Unfortunately, my quirk didn't really have much use compared to something like All Might's insane physical strength. Oh, believe me, I don't bemoan the lot I was dealt; Frog-Form has a lot of uses, now that I've had time to explore it, and it's saved me from a pickle once or twice. It's a part of my identity, for all the good and bad that can come with it. I love having the quirk I do, and I wouldn't trade quirks with anyone else in the whole world.

It does come with some issues, though. Not everyone can be as enlightened to how totally awesome and not gross frogs are, like me. I grew up in Hokkaido, just north of Sapporo. My dad runs a little organic farm that supplies some retailers in the city, planting sweet potatoes, corn, and barley at the start of the summer. My uncle ran a little beer brewery, so part of the barley would go to him. Dad's quirk gave him sticky fingers that could extend up to twenty feet, so even though it made planting seeds and harvesting his crops a lot easier, it also meant he had to endure a lot of jokes about tentacle hentai. He took it in stride, though, and always had a good sense of humor. My mom's quirk let her breathe underwater, let her swim really fast, and made her three times stronger when she was submerged. She was basically a Gyojin from One Piece. She found work in aquaculture just west of Otaru, helping to cultivate fish spawn to supplement the ones caught in the wild. She wasn't around very much, but whenever she came home, she'd bring me all sorts of crazy stories about her job.

When school was in session, I'd take a bus from dad's farm into Sapporo to attend classes. I'd have to get up early to make it there in time, so I became kind of a morning lark. When school was out for a vacation, I would help dad on his farm or explore the wilderness near his house; when I wasn't studying for the next semester, that is. I would hop from rock to rock, trying to avoid falling in the river as long as I could. I loved to look at frogs and salamanders while I was out and about, and only got bitten by snakes once in a while. Since I didn't have all that many friends, I didn't have much company when school wasn't in session. I fought the loneliness by making up stories about what kind of hero I'd be, when I got my hero license someday. I'd call myself Froppy, I had that much figured out ever since I was in elementary school. I'd be comforting and reliable, and would always show up whenever someone needed me. Just like a frog was a lucky animal for people, I'd always have the best timing, always rescuing people right when they needed me to. It took me a few years to realize that it was bad form to not be punctual when a hero was required, but I still would sometimes entertain fantasies like those when I was wandering the wilderness.

In retrospect, being such a dreamer might've been part of the reason it was hard to make friends. Of course, the main reason was the whole frog thing. People were just kind of weirded out by my frog legs, by my big eyes that stared a lot. They kept their distance from me most of the time, not really wanting to get to know me any better than what little they did. They just assumed I was weird or creepy, and made up their minds that way. Since I made it to middle school knowing I wouldn't be making many friends at school, and since being the daughter of a farmer added a stigma of people assuming I was a hick, I decided to leap headlong into my studies. I kept my grades up high, I made a strong showing in athletics, and I was diligent about my extracurricular activities. I managed to graduate from my middle school as an honors student, and so I set my eyes on the next milestone of my life.

Yuuei was an intimidating high school in more ways than one. There was its reputation to reckon with, of course. As the #1 ranked hero school in the nation, and considered by many to be the greatest hero academy the world over, it produced some of the most famous heroes the world had ever known! When I first stood in front of it, it really looked the part, too. It looked like one of those buildings from the comic books, like S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters or something — a fortress of glass and steel and concrete, unassailable and imposing to behold. Just standing at the front gate and looking up at the H-shaped front of the building was enough to make me a little woozy. But I sucked it up, tightened my grip on my bag, and made my way in despite my anxiety. I'd never know how far I could go until I tried, and I'd never be a pro hero if I didn't surmount the challenges Yuuei would throw at me. There were other hero academies, but there was only one Yuuei. For a heroine who took pride in her convictions, like me, only Yuuei would do…And if I failed to even make it in, I'd live my whole life wondering if it was just a matter of not giving it my absolute all.

The lecture hall was well-lit and spacious, with padded wooden seats instead of hard plastic like at my middle school. Sitting down heavily, weighed down by the atmosphere of the place, I slung my book bag under the chair and looked around. Everyone was silent as the grave, and many of them looked a little frightening due to their quirks. Only the occasional clack of a pencil being set down or an errant cough broke the silence withal. That is, until a peppy dance beat began to flow up the rows. I glanced around, and noticed one of the doors from the side being pushed open. The man who jogged out had a ridiculous wing-shaped hairstyle and neatly trimmed facial hair, plus shades and a huge set of headphones. He wore a slim bodysuit that extended from his wrists to his ankles, closed around his neck by what looked like a speaker system. That electronic rhythm was definitely coming to him, picking up briefly as he jogged over to the lectern, before slowing to a stop while he shuffled some papers around. For a moment he just fussed with some items I couldn't see very well, before clearing his throat ominously.

" **WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO MY LIVE SHOW** ," his shout suddenly rocked the lecture hall. " **EVERYBODY SAY HEEEEEY!** " He cupped his hand by his ear, listening for a response. I certainly was too startled to respond, and it sounded like everyone else was just as inclined to remain quiet. Only a cough from somewhere in the upper corner broke the silence. The instructor pursed his lips, looking pretty deflated by the chilly reception. Taking a deep breath, he resolved to continue. "I'VE GOT SHIVERS DOWN MY SPINE, TOO, LOYAL LISTENERS," he boomed. "I"M GONNA GIVE YOU THE LOW-DOWN ON HOW THIS IS GONNA GO DOWN! **ARE YOU READY!? YEEEAH!** " The crowd still wasn't biting. I had to stifle a tiny giggle behind my hand, disguising it as another cough. This guy was trying really hard to get us pumped up.

"NOW PAY CLOSE ATTENTION, LOYAL LISTENERS," the super hero DJ (I had to be reminded later that his name was Present Mic) blared out. A branching box diagram appeared on the screen behind him, helping to illustrate his explanation. "WE'LL BE TESTING YOUR METTLE BY WAY OF A TEN-MINUTE PRACTICE RUN AT OUR REPLICA CITY DISTRICT," he declared. "YOU CAN TAKE WHATEVER YOU LIKE! EVERYBODY GATHER AT THE DESIGNATED MEETING AREA AFTER THE PRESENTATION, **YA DIG!?** " His howl of 'O.K.' echoed forlornly up and down the lecture hall, as students quietly whispered amongst themselves here and there. The screen began to show more diagrams to accompany his explanation, and I had to hide another giggle at the very blatant Super Mario Bros. silhouettes that were used to illustrate the point.

"WE'LL BE SPRINKLING A SLEW OF 'VILLAINS' OVER THE BATTLEFIELD," Present Mic elaborated, "AND THEY'LL APPEAR IN THREE DIFFERENT VARIETIES, WITH POINT VALUES SCALED ACCORDING TO DIFFICULTY!" The diagram changed to show Mario silhouettes dispatching some Goomba silhouettes. "USING EACH OF YOUR INDIVIDUAL QUIRKS, DISPATCH AS MANY 'VILLAINS' AS YOU CAN," the very vocal hero instructed. "YOUR GOAL, LOYAL LISTENERS, IS TO RACK UP A HIGH SCORE!" He suddenly took a slightly harder tone as he warned, "AND DON'T YOU THINK ABOUT ATTACKING YOUR FELLOW COMPETITORS OR ANY OF THAT NASTY ANTI-HERO STUFF! THAT'S AGAINST THE RULES, **CAPISCE**!?" I was beginning to feel a little woozy again, so I was thankful when a studious-looking guy stood to address the bombastic hero at the front of the room.

"Excuse me," the young man loudly asked, "may I ask a question?" He had short, neat black hair, and stern eyes behind his glasses. I was surprised to hear him call the teacher out with, "On the hand-out, there are clearly four types of villains listed!" Oh yeah. The hand-out. Glancing at the hand-out I'd gotten at the entrance to the lecture hall, I could see that the Class President-looking guy was right; it was kind of hard to notice with Present Mic dominating my ears, though. "Such an error would be the height of embarrassment for a hero academy of Yuuei's caliber," the bespectacled young man thundered. "The reason we are here today is because we seek guidance on the path to becoming model heroes!" Much to my mounting shock, he suddenly pointed out some random kid a few rows up behind him. Eyes wide open, the new target of the glasses guy's ire looked like a deer in the headlights.

"Moreover," the shout-y guy snapped, "what's with you? Yeah, you, curly-haired kid!" That poor guy looked like he was going to have a heart attack. "Can't you sit still for a second? You're distracting! If you think Yuuei is some pleasure jaunt, leave here at once!" Wow. What a jerk. I was feeling really sorry for that curly-haired guy, getting called out like that in front of God and the whole prospective student body. I could just barely hear him squeak out an apology, sinking into his seat like he wanted to disappear. As some random girls around the lecture hall giggled, I tried to ignore the overwhelming sympathy. I went to jot down a note to avoid the guy with the glasses, when Present Mic suddenly boomed a reply back to him. I dropped my pencil right down in the floor, and went to reach for it before I got my head bit off or something.

I was surprised to see a pinkish-colored hand reach down and pick it up. The girl had tufty hair a paler shade of pink than her skin, plus two little horns that twisted back on themselves at the ends. Her eyes were black where they should have been white, but she had a winning smile on her face as she handed my pencil back to me. "Mina Ashido," she whispered her name to me with a wink. I mumbled my name back, smiling at her widely. I was hesitant to make any assumptions, but I was excited at the thought of having made a new friend so soon! Calming my jittery nerves, I resolved to talk to Mina if — _when_ we passed the entrance exam. I turned my attention back to Present Mic down on the lecture hall's floor, gesticulating wildly behind his lectern. Apparently, the fourth kind of 'villainous' robot would be unbeatable, and thus worth zero points to discourage attempts to fight it. The point was illustrated with the silhouette of a Thwomp, so I had to squash another giggle with my hand. Mina was stifling her laughter, too.

Much to my surprise, Present Mic alluded to the obvious Super Mario Bros. analogy that needed absolutely no alluding to. The overly-serious guy sat down with a really rigid bow, declaring his apologies for being rude. "Apologize to the kid you flipped out on," I muttered under my breath. Mina giggled at my comment, and offered her hand under the desk. Startled by the offer for a moment, I accepted the offer with a quiet low-five. I was relieved to hear Present Mic winding down his lecture, and could feel the call for Yuuei's motto coming from a mile away. "Plus Ultra," I whispered under my breath, getting up with the rest of the class to move to the testing area.

Plus Ultra. Further beyond. That was what I came here looking for, to go further beyond into the world of the pros. Now, I just had to do it.


	2. Little Frog in a Big Pond (Middle Part)

In the locker room where we were dressing in the training uniforms, I could not stop shaking. My skin was slick and my hair was plastered on my forehead because of my cold sweat. Now that I was actually on the cusp of the entrance exam, I was really getting nervous. Of course I was, we were going to be fighting giant freaking robots! All I'd had to do to test the limits of my quirk in middle school were athletic competitions and physical fitness exams. To have to actually use my quirk in a fight, against a challenge of this kind…I felt like I might faint just thinking about it.

After I'd had to stop and breathe for the third time from fumbling with my gloves, I got a pat on the shoulder from behind. I looked over nervously, but was relieved to see a familiar pale pink face. "I hope you do great on the test, Asu — I mean, Tsuyu," Mina corrected herself with a giggle. I grinned with silent delight. She'd used my given name! I always asked people to use my given name to try and be more genial, but everybody always ignored me. To have someone I'd just met less than an hour ago use my given name like a close friend, I was now shaking with glee! "Don't worry, it'll be fine," Mina reassured me, misunderstanding why I was now shaking even more. "I'll watch your back out there, okay? Heroes need to save other heroes if they're in trouble, y'know? Yosh!" As we both finished putting on our uniforms, I walked with Mina to the testing area.

We were both a little bit awed by the arena we'd be taking our test in. It was like someone had dropped an abandoned city right on the campus, with paved streets and all! Stood with the crowd of other students in front of the town, I tried to tamp down my anxiety so I could focus on the exam that laid ahead. It would be about fighting off robots, sure, but there was probably some kind of trick to how the test worked. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me, though; what could be subversive about smashing robots? Mina seemed to be a lot more confident than I was feeling right then, stretching with no real concern that I could see. I tried to follow her lead and stretch my legs, but that only made me notice how visibly my knees were shaking. I managed to take a few deep breaths and think of home, of how hard I'd been working to be a hero, for all of my life. My knees stopped shaking, and I felt like now I could really give the exam my all.

First, though, I had to endure the sight of the Class President wannabe chewing out that poor kid from before. Seriously, what was this guy's problem!? It looked like the poor guy had just been walking over to talk to this cute girl with brown hair, but the increasingly weird guy with the glasses was making some claim about 'testing her concentration.' Did he think that a boy needed a reason like that to talk to a girl? And then, some blonde pretty boy made some crack about the tufty-haired kid shaking out in front of the gate. As a chorus of snickers went up and down the crowd, I felt sympathy pang painfully in my chest. It hurt to think about it, but back in middle school, I hadn't been a stranger to being teased by a group of kids I didn't know. As much as I wanted to go over and console the poor guy who looked like he was gonna shake himself to pieces, my feet were as impossible to move as two bricks of lead.

I soon found out — we _all_ soon found out we didn't have the time, anyways. " **AAAND START!** " Present Mic boomed down on us from above, making most of us (including me) look up in shock. I could see that nefarious grin of his from all the way down on the ground. " **WHAT'S THE MATTER? THERE'S NOT GOING TO BE A COUNTDOWN TO START A REAL BATTLE! RUN! RUUUN!** " Just like that, it was time to throw ourselves into the fray. " **CONSIDER THE BATON PASSED** ," the bombastic pro hero shouted down, sending us on our way. Now that it was time to just go for it, I felt my anxiety evaporating. Crouching down low to the ground, my thighs bulging and quivering, I peered out around me. All of the students had either leapt or stumbled into the fray, with varying levels of success. Robots had already started to emerge and engage my fellow students in battle. There was such a flurry of quirks leaping into action, it was hard to tell who was doing what!

I could definitely make out Mina, though — with a splash of pale pink fluid, she began to slide across the ground in a beeline for the nearest robot. Seeing her taking to the exam so eagerly inspired me to do the same. I bobbed closer to the ground for a second, and then, I jumped. A lot of other students looked up in surprise as I sprang right over the crowd, landing further into the testing area than almost anyone else. Now that I was there, though, I had to figure out how to handle the villain-bots. As much as I loved Frog Form, it was not made for combat like, say, the ridiculous strength All Might possessed. Nor was it as destructive as Mina's turned out to be, I couldn't help but notice. She gathered that peculiar pink liquid around her hand, before splashing it all over her first target. The robot's armor was unaffected, but it seemed that its inner workings were being destroyed by whatever Mina was producing. As pinkish smoke swirled up around its head, I noticed that Mina's gloves were gone. But she hadn't taken them off, I realized — they'd been melted right off, along with about half of her sleeves! "Acid," I mumbled under my breath. "That's cool."

My admiration of Mina was abruptly interrupted by a crash behind me. A villain-bot had smashed right through an imitation storefront, shaking splinters and glass shards off of its shiny body. This one would be worth a lot of points, if I took it down. The question was how to do that, exactly. I hopped backwards, doubling my distance while I thought of how to take it out. I knew I had to be quick about it, or else someone else would notice my predicament and snatch my chance. Without something directly destructive like Mina's quirk, however, I'd have to get creative. As the robot lumbered towards me, I surveyed my surroundings. There were street lamps all along the street, and the one next to me looked like it had been sheared off just a meter above the base. It was a jagged, diagonal cut that had done it, probably by another student at some point. The top of the streetlamp lie on the paved road, the glass globe housing its light shattered right open. "That will do," I nodded at the severed streetlamp. Noticing the robot preparing to barrel past the next streetlamp up, I sprang into action and desperately hoped my plan would work.

I sprang towards the ruined storefront, my tongue trailing from the corner of my mouth. Sticking the intact streetlamp next to the robot, I kicked off of the wall with one leg, my other cocked back and ready. I noticed a pane of red glass on the villain-bot's back, probably an intentional weak point for perceptive students to hit upon. I obliged the offer, kicking the glass pane so it broke, and tipping the robot forward. It was in mid-charge when my kick connected, meaning it was bowled right over, tripped up by my tongue. Reacting quickly, I retracted my tongue quickly and precisely so that the villain-bot was spun 180 degrees. My timing was just right, and the robot landed so its compromised weak point landed square on the severed street lamp, impaling itself where it fell. It shuddered and whirred, and then lay still. I had taken it down.

There was no time to soak in my small victory, however. I had to earn more points to ensure I passed the exam, and the numbers of robots I'd have my chance to destroy were dwindling. I spotted another robot nearby, battered by some guy whose quirk made his fists grow in size. The villain-bot suddenly wound up, however, and smacked its assailant into a pile of rubble. "Chance," I grunted under my breath, extending my tongue again. Sticking the tip onto the severed metal pole of the street lamp I'd used to defeat the last robot, I crouched down with my hands on the ground. Half-turned away from the robot, I tapped into what I'd learned in physics class to calculate the trajectory I'd need.

Satisfied it would be enough, I rolled my whole body and retracted my tongue, whipping the streetlamp into the air. It flipped end-over-end once, twice, then dropped onto my target. The jagged bottom end of the streetlamp pierced into the top of the villain-bot, causing it to whirr, shudder, and slump. There was no explosion for my victory, disappointingly enough, but a win was a win. Now I just needed to take out a few more of the villain-bots. I didn't have much time to plan, and certainly none to hesitate; the rest of the students were really going to town, wrecking villain-bots left and right. Soon, there wouldn't be any left for me to target!

I managed to pick off a couple of one-point villain-bots, using my tongue to trip them up in mid-rush to wreck each other. That brought my point total up to seven, but that wasn't going to be enough. I spotted another three-pointer that had another student pinned, and vaulted over the villain-bots I'd just trashed to get over to my chance. My tongue was really getting a work-out, but I endured the aching pain to grab a villain-bot's severed arm, and whip it through the air at my new target. Its balance was thrown off by the hit, and its armor crumpled just a bit more. A two-legged kick to the head was enough to disable it, bowling it over onto the pavement. That made ten, but would it be enough?

My plan was to pick off some weakened villain-bots, since some other students had gotten floored before they could finish them off. That was what I would have done, too, had I not suddenly been alerted to a familiar voice crying out. I spun to see Mina had fallen, her clothes ripped in a few places. It looked like she'd just been clotheslined by a one-pointer in mid-slide, and the villain-bot culprit was now looming over her, ready to strike. Its arm was raised over its head, and even though Mina was moving to counter, it looked like she wouldn't respond in time.

Despite knowing that the examiners would probably stop the test before someone got hurt, and in spite of my need to get more points, my instincts kicked in at that very moment. My first friend at Yuuei was in trouble, and that gave me a serious case of tunnel vision. I sprang towards Mina, close to the ground and hopping once, twice to get over to her. I grabbed her with my tongue and pushed off again, pulling her with me to safety. We both skidded about half-a-meter, tumbling to a stop in a daze. Lying on the ground, we shared a moment to look each other in the eye.

Before I had time to clamor to my feet, a tremendous crash shook me to my core. Bits of concrete and glass bounced off of the ground, clattering all around us. It looked like the Thwomp had shown up, and had wiped out a small skyscraper in the process! Mina helped me to my feet, rushing to thank me as we went to run. I spotted some kid with weird, lumpy purple hair who had fallen, and was having trouble getting up. My tongue lashed out to help him on his feet, before Mina and I continued our mad dash to get clear of the huge thing.

Just as we turned back to survey the situation, though, something amazing happened. Someone had leapt up so high in the air, arm cocked back. I was shocked to see that it was the freckly kid from before, but not as shocked as I was to see him haul off and punch the supposedly unbeatable villain-bot! His quirk had to be super strength, because the villain-bot was totaled, its armor crumpled as it fell. My shock turned to dread, however, as I realized something was wrong.

"He's not going to survive that fall," I whispered. Mina realized it, too, and so did a lot of other students. When were the examiners going to intervene!? But out of the rubble leaned some brown-haired girl, and much to my surprise, she hauled off and slapped the kid across his face! Whatever her quirk was, though, it slowed him down enough to survive the fall. I didn't know why, but seeing that he'd survived just fine flooded me with so much relief, Mina had to pick me up from almost falling on my knees.

Rising up, I saw Mina give me a big smile as she blushed a redder shade of pink. "Thanks, Tsuyu," Mina sheepishly offered. "You were pretty sick out there! I'm sure you're gonna pass!" After everyone had collected themselves and Recovery Girl had handed out candy and kisses, it was time to leave the testing area. That was a relief, in a way.

As Mina and I walked back to the changing rooms, though, I wasn't filled with hope or dread. I felt like I might faint at any step, and had to sit down on the bench for a minute once we'd gotten back inside.

I changed out of my exam uniform, and took the long walk back home. Now, all I could do was wait, and hope it had all been enough.


	3. Little Frog in a Big Pond (Last Part)

My ride home on the Shinkansen was weird, to say the least. I couldn't hold still for the life of me, constantly twiddling my thumbs or playing with my hair until I'd catch myself and stop for a minute, only to find myself fidgeting again a minute later. The relief from completing the exam in one piece was overwhelming, especially when it butted up against my anxiety over finding out how I did. I didn't know I'd handle waiting a whole week to get my results back, but I'd manage. I had to.

I got off from the Shinkansen a few blocks from where I was staying, because I had to do some grocery shopping. It was crazy to have to pick up the ingredients for dinner after what a doozy that entrance exam was, but hey, life goes on, right? My shopping list had survived the trip in my bag to and from campus just fine, with only a few wrinkles and rips along the edges to show for it. The grocery store wasn't too far from home, only two corners away on the other side of the block. The list led me from aisle to aisle, filling up my basket with groceries. Corn, butter, and ramen were the main items I had to get; I managed to find some Cola in the freezer, but they were out of beef stock. We still had enough at home for another meal, so that was fine.

All the way up to the cash register, I was so lightheaded that I felt like my feet were going to leave the ground any second. I set my basket up on the counter, took out my little frog-shaped coin purse, and began to count out the total in yen coins. It took me a while because of how much my hands were shaking, and the cashier couldn't help but notice. Leaning over the counter a bit, she fixed me with those warm, dark eyes of hers. "You look shaken up, Asui-san," she addressed me. "Did the exam not go well?" I put my coin purse down for a minute, taking a deep breath to tell her about it. I told her about Mina, and about the freckly kid who smashed the 'unbeatable' villain-bot, too. I resisted the urge to ask she call me Tsuyu, too.

"That sounds like it was a doozy," she told me, putting my basket aside with her prehensile tail while she bagged my groceries for me. "I'm sure you did just fine, though. You've struck me as a very competent girl, even if we've not known each other very long." I fussed with the yen some more, trying to fish out a few small coins to get exact change. "Don't worry, Asui-san," the cashier chuckled. "Just hand me another fifty, I'll make change." I quietly thanked her, handing over another fifty yen coin. She handed me back the change, which I thankfully managed to put away without dropping any. Tucking my coin purse away, I exchanged thanks and good byes with the cashier, and carried the grocery bag out onto the street to walk home.

The float-y feeling in my head and stomach still wouldn't go away. Every time my feet flopped down against the pavement, I felt like I was going to bounce off into space. My hand couldn't get a comfortable grip on the grocery bag's handles, either gripping them so tight my knuckles shook a little, or so loose it felt like the bag would slide off. I had to keep switching from hand to hand so that I didn't lose my grip or drop it, and had to have switched almost two-dozen times by the time I rounded the block to head for home. I was so close now, relieved to be coming up to the front step of the apartment building. I didn't dare look up, at the risk of dizzying myself and possibly falling over now that I was almost home free.

Inside the door, I heaved a huge sigh of relief. The hardwood floor felt bouncy like rubber in my current state, but it was much better than hard shoes on hard pavement, after the day I'd had so far. My whole body ached at the exertion, and my tongue felt like it could fall off if I stretched it too far. Thankfully, I was only staying on the second story, and wouldn't have to climb four or five stories to get home. On the way up, I passed by a cheery old man who lived across the hall from our apartment. "Hey, Asui-chan," he grinned at me. "I hear you were out taking the entrance exam for Yuuei?" I nodded, shifting my bag from one hand to the other. "Well, I'm sure you did great," he beamed at me, giving me a thumbs up. "Say hi to your aunt for me!" He whistled gaily as he trotted down the steps and out the door. I always wondered at how he managed to be in such perpetually high spirits. Maybe it was his quirk?

Ascending to the second floor, I made my way halfway down the hall to the apartment I was staying at. The front door was unlocked, like usual, so I let myself in. "I'm home, auntie," I called out, peeling my shoes off. I was really sweaty, and hadn't noticed until my hand touched my socks. I needed a shower. My aunt gave an indistinct call from the kitchen, so I set the grocery bag down on the rough-hewn coffee table, sat on top of a weirdly-patterned rug. It looked like it was made out of a sail, and knowing how obsessed with the sea my aunt was, I wouldn't put that past her. She had all sorts of weird knick-knacks from God-knows-where, like the anchor hung on the wall beside the door, or her collection of sea shells in a glass and bamboo display case beside the TV. Apparently my aunt used to be a heroine focused on sea rescue and anti-piracy, but had to take a break due to a leg injury. And by 'had to take a break,' I mean her managers had to really twist her arm into taking it easy for a few months.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," I called out to her, tugging my hair out of its little knot on the way to the bathroom. She shouted back at me again, and I heard a loud clatter from the kitchen. I'd learned to just not ask about what my aunt did in her kitchen, at times like this. It usually came out tasting fine, anyways. Closing the door to the bathroom, I leaned on the soapstone counter and looked in the mirror. I looked like a mess. My hair was all askew, and my lower lip had a little dent in it where I'd unknowingly been biting it. A shower was in order in more ways than one. I had to really fight to peel my clothes off, they were so sweaty and sticky. It wasn't too much warmer in Tokyo than in Sapporo, all things considered, but this time of year really showed a different side. Late summer usually meant rain in Sapporo, but in Tokyo, it was drier and hotter than what I liked. I felt dehydrated and gross after today, and was all-too-happy to take a nice shower.

It took a minute for the water to adjust, but once it did, I could heave yet another sigh of relief. A nice, cool shower was just the trick to calm my nerves. I couldn't have it too cold, due to my quirk not getting along well with very low temperatures. My parents found that out the hard way during my first snow festival, when I had to take a little trip to the emergency room with a mild case of hypothermia. I was able to enjoy it every year after, though; I just had to really bundle up, with two or three layers to keep me warm. It took an occasional tweak of the knob left and right to keep the temperature just how I wanted it, but a good shower really did the trick like I'd hoped. After I'd rinsed my hair a couple of times, I stepped out to towel off and get dressed. My aunt had left me a t-shirt, shorts, and underwear on the bamboo shelf by the tub. She'd been an alumni of Yuuei, so I figured she knew I'd need a shower after that work out at the entrance exam.

I had my hair brushed and back into its little knot by the time I walked back out into the living room. "I'm out," I spoke up so she could hear me from the kitchen. The way she shouted back sounded less like she'd heard me than before, especially when a louder clatter that lasted even longer rang out. Seeing as how I really didn't have much else to do right now, I began to stride towards the kitchen. Knowing my aunt, she'd probably brought home some improbable live ingredient for dinner, and was trying to wrestle it into submission. Despite what a dangerous prospect that had been before, my curiosity got the better of me. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Besides, it wasn't like my aunt couldn't handle whatever her disobedient ingredient of the day was.

At the doorway to the kitchen, I paused for just a minute. The struggles inside were a little less audible, so I felt it was safer to go in that it had been a minute ago. "I'm coming in," I politely announced myself, gently pushing the door open to sidle my way in. As I had suspected, my aunt had a very unusual ingredient of choice laid out on the table. It was some kind of eel with a body as thick around as one of my legs, and armed with a mouth lined with teeth the size of hypodermic needles. It was still struggling weakly, but I didn't have anything to fear at this point. A meat cleaver was buried right under one of its flared gills, pinning it to the table as it gave up the ghost.

My aunt was absent only a moment more, before rounding the corner to give me a cheeky smile. She had bluish-gray skin, dark eyes, and a head of shaggy black hair interrupted by what looked like a dorsal fin crowning her scalp. Her imposingly muscular arms were bent so she could dab some kind of ochre liquid on a gash by her elbow, using some tweezers and a cotton ball to apply the antibacterial fluid. "Glad you made it home just fine, kid," the menacing woman greeted me with a big, toothy grin. Each of her teeth was the size of a knife blade, but I hadn't been scared of that smile since I was a very little girl, and didn't know what kind of woman my aunt was. She was incredibly strong and could be incredibly violent when she caught a whiff of a criminal's blood, but when it came to me, she was determined to dote on me until I couldn't stand it anymore.

"Welcome home, Tadpole," my auntie grinned. That nickname used to really embarrass me, but I'd gotten over it a long time ago. Well, mostly. Noticing my curious stare at the eel pinned to the table, auntie set the tweezers aside. "Some fishermen I know caught it, and didn't have anyone else who would take it," she explained. "So I brought it home, and wrestled it into submission! Figured it'd make some good soup, tomorrow!" Auntie's enthusiasm always amazed me. Well, that and her ability to be so keen, when she wasn't so absentminded. As auntie dragged the eel off the table so she could start dismantling it, I went into the living room to fetch the groceries. We planned on celebrating my entrance exam by cooking up some ramen with butter and corn, a Hokkaido dish that my dad used to make on really cold days. It was something to comfort my anxious mind.

After my aunt had prepared the eel and dumped its different eel bits in a bucket beside the sink, she washed her hands while she watched me prepare the corn. I took the knife and carefully stripped the corn off of the cob, going a side at a time. After five movements with the knife, all the corn was ready. While auntie heated up some broth she'd prepared earlier on the stove, I rinsed the knife off, ignoring the pungent smell coming off of the eel's remains. Being able to ignore unusual smells came in handy, around my auntie's kitchen. Once the ramen noodles had been allowed to cook in the broth for a few minutes, we poured in the butter and corn, as well as some mushrooms that auntie had chopped up and put in a bowl to the side. It only took a minute or two more, and we had two bowls of butter corn ramen ready. My auntie and I weren't master chefs, and tended to fudge a few steps, but it still tasted amazing in the end.

Sat across the table from each other, we both dug in eagerly. I hadn't realized just how hungry was until I started eating, wolfing down the toppings and slurping up the noodles with reckless abandon. By the time I'd caught myself, I had tipped the bowl back to guzzle down the broth, ignoring the little bit trickling down my chin. Setting it down with a gasp, I blushed and apologized to my auntie. "Nah, don't worry, kid," she laughed. "I ate like a woman possessed after my entrance exam, too! Looks like they're still putting you kids through your paces, eh?" I nodded, wiping off my mouth with a smile. Somehow, when she really wanted to, my auntie could always put my mind at ease.

The rest of dinner was pretty uneventful. I told my auntie about the giant robots they used, and she gave a laugh. "They really love to splurge on stuff like that, at Yuuei," she told me. "Even if it's going to probably be destroyed, they want it to be state-of-the-art!" On that note, I told auntie about the guy who had busted up the 'invincible' area hazard robot, as well as how he'd done it to save another girl. "Huh," she grunted thoughtfully. "Sounds like that kid's gonna go places. Even if it was unnecessary, Yuuei favors students who have got that kind of heroic moxie." After she finished off her bowl of ramen, auntie asked me the question I'd been waiting for: "Did you make any new friends?"

My answer tumbled out uncontrollably. "Her name is Mina Ashido and she's really cool," I tried in vain to contain myself. "Her quirk lets her produce acid and she looks kind of like an alien, but she's really nice and picked up my pencil when I dropped it at the seminar!" I took a pause to breathe, smiling sheepishly as my aunt shook with repressed laughter. "She fell during the entrance exam, and I…I didn't need to, but I helped her up. I hope my score doesn't suffer for it." My aunt looked like she wanted to say something, but held it in. We did the dishes in short order, and my auntie never did tell me what she wanted to say. I'd find out later what it probably was, though.

The next week went by in a blur. I helped my auntie cook and clean, looking for any task to calm my nerves. I took notes based off of the exam, I reviewed my notes from the seminar, and I even reviewed hero-related notes I'd taken back in middle school. I was just so anxious to get my results, but apprehensive all the same. What if I'd failed? What if by saving Mina, I'd shot myself in the foot? I tried to tamp down those worries, but they just would not go away. I was still nervously trying to distract myself by the time an envelope arrived, bearing the Yuuei seal in bright red wax. It was time.

Sat on my bed with my legs folded, I held the envelope in front of me, my nerves frayed. I was afraid to open it, to be honest. If I failed after coming, I didn't think I'd be able to live with myself. Not one bit. When I thought of my family, though, of how they'd encouraged me and supported me so far, I just had to steel my resolve. Taking a deep breath, I opened the envelope and dumped out the contents.

What landed on top of the pile was a peculiar little device, which proceeded to project a hologram before me. As I watched, none other than All Might walked into the shot, dressed in a suit. "Testing, 1, 2, 3," he boomed jovially. "Am I on screen? Good!" I really hoped they hadn't recorded these individually. That would really be at odds with my humble nature. "You there! Asui Tsuyu!" Of course they did. "I must say, you really leapfrogged into first place," All Might joked good-naturedly. I couldn't even be disgusted with him and his Silver Ager puns.

"With regards to the written test," he went on to say, "your performance was top-notch! In the practical skills exam, you performed exceptionally, given the nature of your quirk." Well, it was certainly nice of them to admit that test was hard on certain quirks. "You came very close passing, just based on how well you fought against those robots. Very close, indeed!" My face fell. Of course, it had all been for naught. Just like All Might to use praise to cushion the worst of news.

"Fear not, young Asui," All Might boomed. Was I being watched? "I was an entertainer in a past life," he said cheekily. "I can read any audience, no matter the distance! As I was saying, you needn't fear. Your technical performance was not the only remarkable feat of yours." Did he mean…?

"The judges were watching," he continued, "and saw that you, much like a certain other boy, jeopardized your chances of success in order to ensure the safety of a fellow student." I began to blink back tears.

"Based on your outstanding selflessness and willingness to take the safety of another person into your own hands," All Might beamed, "you, Asui Tsuyu, have passed the entrance exam with flying colors!"

All Might said more after that, but I'd have to replay them later. Tears of relief were just pouring out of me. I was in.

Little did I know how the entrance exam was the most paltry trials and tribulations to come.


End file.
